Soups on.

Inquiring minds want to know: How do you get more veggies in your diet?

It's hard. I mean do you like to eat a green bean or broccoli floret on your way to work in the morning? Neither do I and this is why whether you are at home or on the road SOUP is great for breakfast!

Although the weather here in Florida is not that chilly, this time of year it is so nice to have a warm cup of something in your hand every morning. For some that may be coffee, or tea. And for others Soup. Varieties I have had for breakfast in the last 6 months include: Silky Gingered Zucchini Soup, Tomato Soup,  Mushroom Soup, Golden Cauliflower Soup.

Before writing me off due to this crazy-out-there idea I am endorsing, you have got to try it first. At least once. Breakfast usually includes a few eggs and maybe some sausage but unless you eat things sporadically like myself then you might not be eating a salad or leftover collard greens with your first meal of the day. Isn't the first the most important? So why wouldn't you include at least one serving of vegetables?

Back to today's Soup. Like a lot of the recipes I make, I didn't invent this. I saw something I liked and I put a twist and revamped it into what I wanted.

Velvety Garlic Vegetable Soup

Olive Oil

Salt
2 heads Garlic
6 c Bone Broth*
1 c Onion, diced
2 Carrots, peeled and sliced
1 Jalapeno or Serrano, sliced
1 inch fresh Ginger, peeled and minced
2 c Zucchini, diced

Roast your garlic. Heat up your favorite soup pot over medium and add a few tablespoons of olive oil. Saute the onions, carrots and jalapenos until onions are translucent. Add in the ginger and zucchini, season with salt and saute until fragrant. Add in your broth and roasted garlic and simmer for 20 minutes or until the carrots are tender. At this point it is time to get velvety. To do this you can either use an immersion blender or a blender. Blend until smooth. Serve and eat.

Another great thing about soup. It makes multiple servings so you basically have cooked something for the whole week**. I ate today's soup for lunch and added a bit of leftover Crockpot BBQ beef. It was delicious. Sometimes breakfast, lunch or dinner really can be very easy. 

What is your favorite soup?

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*This can be any type of bone broth you have on hand or vegetable broth for a vegetarian soup.
** Of course if you don't want to eat all the same flavored soup all week don't forget that you can freeze it for later.

*Organic is the New Black

Over the last year an item on my to do list was to get more organic veggies in the house. We have always had vegetables in this household but we wanted to aim for more per serving per meal.  Of course I want the most nutrient dense veggies for our overall health as well.

 There are several ways to go about this:

• Option 1: Continue to buy conventional produce.
• Option 2: Buy ALL organic produce.
• Option 3: Buy regular produce, except for the dirty dozen. 

Conventional: Buying conventional produce is fine for anyone on a budget. Eating veggies is better than not eating veggies. Although the thought of eating these items that were grown with pesticides and chemicals gives me the heebe geebees when I really start to think about it. Conventional is the most cost effective.

Organic: Buying organic produce makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. I like eating vegetables that I know have no pesticides/chemicals** on the land for a minimum of 3 years and were grown with care using farming practices that are both old and new. If you buy all organic veggies be prepared to spend $50+ per week on produce particularly if you buy from a major grocer.

Pick 'N' Choose: This (maybe more affordable) option is to purchase all conventional except what the Environmental Working Group calls the dirty dozen. I came around to this option because Mr. FFF (FoodFavesFun) doesn't like it when I buy... an Organic Apple that is smaller AND more expensive than its conventional prototype. He doesn't see the value. Health duh! This is still an expensive option considering basically everything I like to eat is on the dirty dozen list except for celery***. But over the last year it has been the way that I have been making sure I can vote with as many of our dollars as possible and still feel slightly warm and fuzzy.

Here is a handy guide to take along with you to the grocery store to keep you on track.

Is shopping Organic important to you? If so, do you "vote with your dollars" by buying/supporting organic farms?

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*How much did you love Orange is the New Black??? One awesome thing about Netflix making their own shows is getting to partake in the ultra marathon once the show is released. The bad thing is still having to wait until the net season. Ekkk!

**Due to the Government Shut down of October 2013, I wasn't able to link up and get the deets from the National Organic Program itself. From my understanding, there are no chemicals and synthetic pesticides plus the veggies are not subjected to irradiation and are also inspected/certified each year.

*** Hate celery!!! Unless its chopped up really small and hidden in my food.